BACKGROUND: Palearctic bats host a diversity of lyssaviruses, though not the classical rabies virus (RABV). As surveillance for bat rabies over the Palearctic area covering Central and Eastern Europe and Siberian regions of Russia has been irregular, we lack data on geographic and seasonal patterns of the infection. RESULTS: To address this, we undertook serological testing, using non-lethally sampled blood, on 1027 bats of 25 species in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Slovenia between 2014 and 2018. The indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) detected rabies virus anti-glycoprotein antibodies in 33 bats, giving an overall seroprevalence of 3.2%. Bat species exceeding the seroconversion threshold included Myotis blythii, Myotis gracilis, Myotis petax, Myotis myotis, Murina hilgendorfi, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Vespertilio murinus. While Myotis species (84.8%) and adult females (48.5%) dominated in seropositive bats, juveniles of both sexes showed no difference in seroprevalence. Higher numbers tested positive when sampled during the active season (10.5%), as compared with the hibernation period (0.9%). Bat rabies seroprevalence was significantly higher in natural habitats (4.0%) compared with synanthropic roosts (1.2%). Importantly, in 2018, we recorded 73.1% seroprevalence in a cave containing a M. blythii maternity colony in the Altai Krai of Russia. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of such "hotspots" of non-RABV lyssavirus circulation not only provides important information for public health protection, it can also guide research activities aimed at more in-depth bat rabies studies.

CEITEC Central European Institute of Technology University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Brno Czech Republic

Centre for Cartography of Fauna and Flora Antoličičeva 1 SI 2204 Miklavž na Dravskem polju Slovenia

Department of Biochemistry Ural State Medical University Repina 3 620014 Ekaterinburg Russia

Department of Botany and Zoology Masaryk University Kotlářská 267 2 611 37 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Ecology and Diseases of Game Fish and Bees University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Palackého tř 1946 1 612 42 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Ecosystem Research Environment Risk Assessment and Conservation Biology Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Tsar Osvoboditel 1 1000 Sofia Bulgaria

Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Palackého tř 1946 1 612 42 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Biology and Soil Science Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Pr t 100 letiya Vladivostoka 159 690022 Vladivostok Russia

Institute of Biology Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Palaeontology Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences Wrocław Poland

Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Květná 8 603 65 Brno Czech Republic

Irkutsk State Medical University Krasnogo Vosstania street 1 664003 Irkutsk Russian Federation

Land Use and Biodiversity International Complex Research Laboratory for Study of Climate Change Tyumen State University Volodarckogo 6 625003 Tyumen Russia

Western Baikal protected areas Federal State Budgetary Institution Zapovednoe Pribaikalye Baikalskaya st 291B 664050 Irkutsk Russia

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Phylogeographic Aspects of Bat Lyssaviruses in Europe: A Review

Transcriptomic responses of bat cells to European bat lyssavirus 1 infection under conditions simulating euthermia and hibernation